A fix correcting a debilitating dead-end bug for players connecting to random ranked matches in MLB 2K10 could go live as early as this week. The patch addressing the error contains a multitude of other fixes as well.

On its forums, 2K Sports has published the patch notes. There are a lot of cosmetic changes in this one, some of them animations that impacted the gameplay. 2K Sports says another patch is coming for the Xbox 360, and confirms that a patch is in development for the PS3 that may combine the fixes incorporated in the first two 360 patches.

"We got the support to be able to fast track this patch for 360," says the 2K Sports admin, "so pretty cool that we'll have it out this early for you MS users." The patch will hit either this week, next week at the latest.

While I'm disappointed the manager AI isn't being beefed up in My Player mode, for pitchers (which is otherwise a real strength of this game), it is possible that may be addressed in this batch of fixes or the one still to come.

"We have a fix in place for My Player, and we think it should get you guys having issues squared, but I personally don't want to guarantee that it will be the only fix needed," the admin writes. "There might be another weird cause of My Player issues, but we'll be working around the clock on reproducing any additional My Player issues after the below fix is in place."

Here's the rundown of what's included.

General• Fixed Inside Edge Batter Breakdown letter grade assignments on screen (cosmetic issue previously only)
• The correct ‘Player of Game' was not consistently being chosen. It is now.
• Player of Game not consistent for all dialogs & audio, should be now.
• Fix for bug where head morphs changed when changing hair-style/length in create a player, also addresses extremely odd looking faces generated using randomize head option in create a player.
• Post Season pause menu stat issue - batting averages will be from the season, not post season as it should be.
• The loading screen would display a playoff *race* key game message, rather than a playoff key game message.
• In ReelMaker a wipe would not appear properly the first time, but it appeared if you played the reel again. Fixed.
• There was a case where the user had to press the button through button twice to advance to the next pitch. The intended behavior is to only have to press the button once.
• There was a stray camera cut after action replays, before advancing to the next batter.
• Fixes a bug with player stat leaderboards over specific timeframes: Last 10 Games, Last 30 Days, This Month, Last Month
• Breaking the consecutive game hit streak record was not being recorded and displayed on the Records screen. It is now.
• Bug where batting averages like .27777778 were not rounded up to .278 in the batter intro overlay when displaying split stats like "career vs. pitcher".
• Bug where franchise and career modes would display the incorrect year that players won a Gold Glove (shown in-game as "Top Fielder") award.

Gameplay• Added Check Swings.
• AI Pitcher will no longer throw special pitches in a clutch moment (intentional walks, etc.).
• Fixed batter batting without a bat.
• Improved wall climbs and catches at the wall.
• Strike Zones are updated when a pinch hitter is brought in.
• User was unable to throw after queuing a throw before playing a wall collision animation.
• Composure is always affected on a mound visit.
• The fielding shadow was not drawing correctly vertically against walls.
• Show the pitch break arrows in two player games.
• CPU pitchers were staying in too long/throwing too many pitches.
• Sometimes a player wouldn't do a celebration.
• Incorrect 1st baseman behavior when a runner tried to advance from 3rd to home just as the 1B caught the ball.
• Umpires faced the wrong way when a runner stole 2nd
• Players would occasionally be called out on 2-man steal/pickoff animations when the ball didn't actually touch them
• There were several issues with double play behavior when one of the players was significantly out of position
• Players had a hard time making running tags
• Outfielders would occasionally play a casual-looking queued throw animation while there was a runner advancing
• The user would occasionally be unable to throw the ball to 1st base after fielding the ball and stomping on 2nd for a double play

My Player• Fix for a bug in My Player where the "Break a MLB single season record" hall of fame goal was not being marked as completed when the user broke a single season record.
• Fix for a bug in My Player where broken pitching records were labeled as hitter records and broken hitting records were labeled as pitcher records on the timeline.
• The spotlight indicator option was not working, when you turned it off in My Player Setup Options it was still appearing.
• When playing as a catcher in My Player when you had to field bunts they were being hit to hard and the pitcher was fielding them.
• There was a crash when returning to landing screen after first round playoff games in career mode when you have a post season goal.
• My Player: The camera is fixed / focused on a patch of grass / the field as the Game recap screen transitions onto the screen at the ending of a My player game and
• My Player not always being put in appropriate place to see him when we draw the End Game recap in My Player games.
• Base coaches are in sitting pose during clutch moments in My Player.

Online• Fixed bug that caused players to end up on team select screen with no controller icons when trying to enter a Ranked Online Game.
• Online divergence bug caused by split stats being enabled in online games.